The Dark One
by Byte
Summary: Neo and Co. are about to fight the ultimate enemy... Can they survive? R/R
1. Pain,Questions and The Dark One

  


**The Dark One**  


  
  
They had lost four good people, a two-timing rat and the Neb was trashed. But they had found the 'One". Neo was proud of it but it he didn't want to talk about.To Neo life had new meaning he was The One. He was it . Oh admit it your're feeling pretty good cause your're not alone any more. Most of all he had Trinity who had to be prettiest, strongest, and most amazing person he had ever know or hoped to meet for that matter. Even more beautiful than Mouse's "Lady in Red". Mouse, one of the dead because of him. Survivors guilt, they all had it to different degrees, him and Tank had it the worst. Tank's brother had died by the hand of the rat. They had all agreed they would never speak his name again he had betrayed them in the worst way possiable.In his and the rest of the crew's opinion, he deserved a far worse death than he received, far worse.   
At the current time Neo was working with a welder the try to repair the ship damaged hull.  
"Now this is a hopeless case isn't it?" he hissed in disgust throwing down the welder.  
"Boy. Talking to yourself isn't much better is it now?" inquired Tank from behind him.  
"Better than having a long chat with St. Peter."  
"I hear you man. But I'll tell you the next death will be."  
"Oh yeah?"  
"That welder your using. Have you ever even used a machine other than a computer or a gun?"  
"Nope."  
"What a surprise."  
"Hey Neo! Get down here will ya? Morpheus want to have a talk with you." Called Trinity from below.  
"Coming!!" he yelled.'  
"What bout our lovely conversation?"Tank asked pretending to have hurt feelings.  
  
He chose not to dignify that remark with an answer. He quickly shot down the ladder and welcomed Trinity with a passionate kiss. They had talked of marriage there truly was no need for courtship between them it was unlike anything each other had experienced before. They both had so long cut each other of from any emotion. The only problem was the crew . Tank wanted a marriage in a program. "Think of it! A wedding gown for Trinity, a tux for Neo. It could be in a court yard in Hawaii. Think about it!" Morpheus had another idea about the wedding that it should be on the ship. They were going with Morpheus on this one.   
"Maybe you two could stop lip locking, before the Matrix self destructs it's self."  
"Talk to you later." Neo whispered in Trinity's ear.  
"If you can catch me."  
"Man you two are acting like two teenagers who have the hots for each other. piped in another voice. Byte, one of the two new recruits. Byte herself was a teenager, a genius at that. It was not her hacker skills that got her her ticket out of the Matrix but that she was a verified genius who was a whiz at science. Her latest project was the EMP gun. Not as effective as the regular EMP but it could be used while a member of the crew was in the Matrix. She herself was tall with bright green eyes and currently she wore a piece of cloth around her head until her hair began to re-grow. While she was part of an elite resistance she was still a vain teenager who cared way to much about her looks.   
"Neo we haven't had much of an opportunity to test the limits of 'the One' now have we?"  
"Yeah we've just been picking up snotty teenagers." Neo said directing this comment at Byte, who stuck her tongue out at him.  
"Hey I'm no pimply faced teenager." Snapped Gizmo, the other new recruit. A grade A hacker, not as good as Neo but very good nonetheless. He was a few years younger than Neo. He was Oriental and only slightly taller than Byte.  
"Well, your're as mature as a teenager." Byte snapped. Aww they were pretty cute together. She was 17 and Gizmo was 20, even though they acted like mortal enemies but given time who knows? Well that was what Trinity thought at least.  
"Gizmo can we go into a loading program with item set 67296."  
"Gotcha boss."   
Neo laid against the chair and felt the familiar sensation as he got "downloaded" as he called it, into a program. He was welcomed to pure whiteness except for Morpheus and a table with various objects on it.  
"Neo, we know you have the ability to alter the Matrix. But the question is how much can you alter it? Can you turn a table into an automatic rifle? A bullet into a rose petal? What are your limits? Do you for that matter have any? So lets, play shall we?  
  
"All questions no answers, eh boss?"  
"Life rarely hands them to us?"  
"Okay so what do you want me to do?"  
"Change these objects into something, anything else. Not so hard is it now?"  
"Yeah real simple." Neo growled under his breath, no matter what he could do he had to have limits. He was sure of it.  
"Don't believe in limits Neo. When you give them up, you will survive."  
All right he'd give it a try. He picked up the dollar bill that was laying on the table. He stared at Washington's face. He smirked Buddy you thought your revolution was tough. Then he decided he wanted to look at Franklin's face instead. He bent the program and twisted it. Amazingly a hundred dollar bill was in his hands.  
"See told you about limits." Morpheus chided Neo  
"Yeah amazing isn't it?"   
"Lets now see exactly how much you can alter that dollar bill, excuse me hundred dollar bill."  
All righty he once again bent the bill and soon a knife lay in his hand.  
"Well I guess we aren't going to have to worry bout running out of the weapons in the Matrix anymore." He said twirling the knife in his hand. They would still go in with them. They were thankful for Neo's being the One, but they would not abuse his gift.   
"I wish I could stick that in an Agents back." Hissed a soft voice behind him. He spun around to face the teenager. In a program or the Matrix it's self she had dark brown hair that she added a red glaze to. It was pulled back currently in loose ponytail."Of coarse you get that honor." Jealousy and pride filled her voice oddly enough.  
"Why have you entered Byte? What's wrong?" Morpheus asked in a no nonsense tone of voice.  
"Always so pessimistic? That why I joined Morpheus, didn't you know it was your optimism."  
"It was the lure of an easy life that got me." Neo joked  
"Naw it was a certain crew member"  
All Neo could manage was a lopsided smile. That wasn't the reason, it had been a gut feeling, the quest for answers that had done him in. But Trinity had changed his world also, in a way he had never expected. He made it a point to asked Trinity why she did it.  
"Yeah we got a lock on another potential."  
"Stats?"  
"Actually we got two. Names are Teeky and Zekk. Fraternal twins, 28 years old. Live next to each other in San Francisco. Always did wanna see the Golden Gate Bridge. Zekk has a wife. Possible potential but I don't think so, they aren't happily married. She has some addictions that have dulled her mind. Teeky is 5'4'', copper hair with gray eyes top ten percent in her college class. Zekk is 6''7, copper hair, brown eyes. They share a computer."  
"You heard the lady lets go for a trip into the Matrix." Neo wanted in he was getting cabin fever and he wanted to get away from that welder.  
"Yeah Trinity, Neo, and Byte."  
"Morpheus I was wondering where is the equipment to wake them up in San Francisco." Neo asked even though he knew the answer already.  
"Trinity will show you two." Oh he was good.  
Morpheus just vanished. Obviously they were going straight into the Matrix. Trinity appeared in her usual outfit. Byte wore a leather jacket with a tight black shirt on underneath with ultra dark jeans with black shoes. Her hair was in the "bed head" look, surprisingly it worked on her.  
Then they were in a dark room that hadn't been updated since the 70's. A giant smiley face was painted on one wall and a peace sign on the other.  
"Let's get out of here." Neo mumbled he really didn't like this place. He was tempted to wipe that smiley face of the wall. The computer in the next room would give them access to Teepy and Zekk's computer.  
The lap top stood alone on the desk. Trinity booted the thing up.   
"Okay? Who wants the honor of making contact with them first. Neo? Byte?"  
"Count me out lady." Byte snapped"That ain't my job."  
It was true. Byte's true gift was that she could predict the Matrix. Within a one minute period but it gave them an edge. Goodness knew they needed it. So while the others were stationary, she would meditate getting the future to watch out for future dangers that would jeopardize the team.  
"I'll do it." Neo offered.  
"Good I'll help." Trinity offered.  
"Yeah well you two remember your mission. If I go in and I find you two making out. Besides getting sick, well I dunno what I'd do.." Byte reminded them.  
  
  
Jennie sat at her computer, she was hacking into sites just to prove she could. She wasn't stupid she knew that this was dangerous but she knew how to cover her tracks. She was one of the best there was. She felt sometimes like she was in a fish bowl being watched constantly. She hated it, the feeling that is.  
[Hello Teeky] A phrase appeared as the screen went blank.  
[Who are you?!What have you done to my computer] she typed back  
[You are not ready and I did nothing to your computer]  
[READY FOR WHAT?!]  
[To know who I am. But I know what you want. You and your brother, Zekk]  
[ What do I want? You seem like a know it all to me]  
The words that appeared on the screen shocked and amazed her.  
[Out of the fishbowl]  
  
[Do I have you intrust? I do don't I. Do you want out? It won't be easy.]  
[What do I have to do?]  
[Live]  
[Who are you? What do you want? Tell me please.]  
[Neo, that's all you need to know]  
[Good-bye Teeky]  
[Don't go....]  
[I'll be back.Goodbye Teeky. Stay brave. Stay alive. And you will leave the fishbowl. Tell no one. I'll connect with you again or one of my friends will]  
Who was he? Was he related to the infamous Tech, who held the secrets of the fishbowl. He had the answers. Was this one of his people or where there others like Tech? Was Neo a leader himself? Too many questions. Was she in danger, Neo had said she had needed to stay alive. And what kind of trouble was she in? Frankly she didn't care she wanted out no matter the cost. But later that night she didn't sleep when you were betting their life on something. You don't take a chance. And in the middle of the night she remember were she had the name Neo. A hacker, one of the best, he had broken every law ever made for the digital word. A name spoken with the same reverence among hackers as Trinity. Man and a little while ago he had just disappeared, he had found a way out of the fish bowl, had he? She was in deep crap now, and her without her boots.  
  
"We nailed her!!"Byte yelped as they returned to the Neb."And! No Agents to boot!  
"You are scary twisted lil kid you know that right? I mean did someone drop you on your head when you were little or what?"  
"I can take the insults, cuz the first two are true. But I ain't no little kid." She snapped.  
Neo rolled his eyes, he didn't want in on this argument."  
"Ay! You to knock it off! You got home just in time for dinner." Tank said with a used car salesmen grin.  
"Ugh" the two groaned in unison. At least they could agree on something. Not much but it was something they couldn't fight about, well at least not yet. When that happened there was going to be no quite on this ship.  
Neo leaned over and kissed Trinity. She responded back in the way she hoped she would.  
"Jeez. Get a room will ya?" Gizmo joked. Fat boy.  
"Ugh let them eat alone. They keep up and I'll loose my lunch."  
"Shut up Byte I'll remember this this in the next training exercise." Trinity warned easily  
"Crap, I've done it now." Byte muttered and shuffled out of the room. Neo almost felt sorry for her. As much as he loved Trinity, she was the toughest, probably most dangerous women he had ever known.   
"Ha ha Byte!" gloated Gizmo. Trinity lifted one of her eyebrows as a warning and Gizmo seemed to pale and he shut up. Neo surpassed a laugh at the tough guy's reaction to the rising of an eyebrow.  
Morpheus barged in with Tank at his heels.  
"All of you we are going in now. We are taking Teeky now. There are suspicions aroused about our contacts with her. It must be now or never."  
"What? It's to early."  
"It's been done before and it's turned out all right. We must or we loose her and we can't afford that now."   
"Yeah I mean look at Neo. We took him quick and see how he turned out" Tank said slapping Neo on the back.  
"Dude you are a wak job. You know that don't you?" Byte giggled from behind Tank.  
Neo rolled his eyes. Byte was a real smart aleck. Yet somehow she reminded him of himself when he was young. A reject who took it in stride, not only that but reveled in being a loner. Though she laughed more and had been half way between a Goth and a nerd. An odd kid.  
  
Byte felt the familiar sensation of being downloaded. And puff, it always seemed like a form of magic going into a world with no color and people who would have been called Goths or Squids at her school. Neo and Trinity were in their normal garb. Gizmo, the royal pain in the but. Wore baggy black pants that could fit in two more people. A black shirt with the words "DOWN WITH AUTHORITY!!" in white scrawled across it, which carried a certain amount irony with it. He used gel to spike his black hair straight up. And an Army jacket to top of the look.   
"Byte, Gizmo, you two haven't seen the Oracle yet have you?" Trinity asked as if suddenly remembering.  
"Well, there hasn't exactly been a lot of time. We just got the Neb moving again."  
"Hey, that lady can be deceptive. Don't trust what she says to closely. Don't under estimate her." Neo mumbled  
"Oh Neo shut up." Trinity snapped. Boy those two were a great couple or what. Neo was a cool guy he had a strong sense of duty, enough defiance for two people, and he was really sarcastic.Trinity had a air or command, determination, but underneath she was a person of great passion (especially for Neo). Tank with his waked sense of humor and Morpheus dignity and drive. She didn't like people much and respected them even less. But by some miracle she respected everyone on the Neb except for Gizmo of coarse.   
"Gizmo," she said casually"Don't screw things up here will ya?"  
"Ha ha, you're real funny Byte. Next time I'll remember to laugh."  
She laughed as she picked two guns up from the arsenal that had just appeared. They were two every day hand guns, top of the line in the Matrix. Two hand guns was standard equipment for entering the Matrix, unless you were on a do or die mission like Neo and Trinity had gone on to save Morpheus.   
"Let's go." Neo commanded impatiently.  
Then the world altered and they were back in the city by the bay. "Got your wish Neo, now didn't you." They were near a phone booth. Byte could taste the salt in the air. She'd always wanted to come here. She'd never get to in the real world. The thought was really depressing but she didn't care. It was the machines fault, they had ruined the human race and their world, and they would pay, she would make sure of it. Neo's appearance was supposed to mean the end of the Matrix was coming, but when. If she thought of that she would go insane.  
She cocked her head up to catch a sea breeze and inhaled, she really loved the ocean, did they even exist in the real world. She really hoped so.  
Gizmo began to cough and wheeze like he had asthma or something.  
"What's up city boy?" she teased.  
Neo smirked."Country hi."   
"Naw Suburbia hick" she corrected  
"How bout you guys shut up and we get to business." Trinity corrected.   
"Yeah lets get going. I don't feel like getting shot this time." Neo said and entered an apartment near by. Gizmo had volunteered to contact Teeky on the computer while her, Neo and Trinity met up with Teeky. Good plan but she hoped it wouldn't get them killed. She personally felt she was to young to bite the dust.  
  
Gizmo rubbed his hands together in anticipation as the computer booted up, this was his first time doing this and it was important, even more than normal for the Neb was still understaffed. Sometimes it seemed as though they shouldn't even offer the blue pill, at least that's the way Morpheus made it out to be. He knew times were desperate but he was forced to agree with Byte one thing if there was no fun inn your life, life wasn't worth living.   
The computer rang signaling that it was ready. And he began the process of hacking into Teeky's computer.   
"Cake and pie." He whispered to himself.(Piece of cake, easy as pie) Here was where the fun began.  
[Hi Teeky, glad to hear from us again?]  
[You're not Neo]  
[BINGO!! But I am a friend of his.]  
[Oh? Really?] Oh this lady was going to fit in fine and who knew? She might actually survive a while.  
[Ask me anything about you conversation.]  
[What do I want?]  
[ Easy one. Out of the fishbowl, but we like to call it the Matrix]  
[Whoa...]  
[ Yeah how I felt too.]  
[ By the way, who are you?]  
[ Name's Gizmo]  
[I've never heard of you.]  
[ Not suprising, but we got bigger problems right now. Do you really want out, cuz tonight is the night]  
[Yes I do]  
[Cool, Well in ten seconds you'll here a knock at your door, go with them and I'll see you soon.]  
He cut the connection quickly and hurried out of the room, he didn't think he had been traced but he had learned to be cautious. And he began making his way to the abandoned warehouse were Teeky was going to wake up.  
  
[Cool, Well in ten seconds you'll hear a knock at your door. Go with them and I'll see you soon.]  
Wow, this was really happening and began the countdown in her hear.  
1....2....3....4....5....6....7....8....9....10! Two heavy knocks hit her door and she sprang to her feet a practically flew to open her door. Three people were standing there all in dark colors. One was a very handsome guy, tall and thin. The next was a lady with dark hair and was in shiny leather. The final was a punk girl in a leather jacket and had a gun in her hand. What the .... What was a kid doing with a gun?! And she looked like she knew how to use it.  
The guy stepped forward" We really don't have much time. But an introduction would probably be nice. I'm Neo. That is Byte" The girl with the gun mock saluted." Last but no least is Trinity." The lady in the leather nodded her head.  
"The Trinity?! Oh man It's a pleasure."  
"Save the pleasures for later." Neo said he seemed nervous "Got anything Byte."  
"Quite as a mouse. Wait.." the girl suddenly swore."We got a minute."  
Jennie watched helplessly as Neo strode over and smashed a window in with his elbow.  
"Ladies first." He motioned with gesture.  
"Why thank you." Byte said and swung outside and jumped to the top of the next building which was thirty feet away! She did this without any apparent effort and the move was quickly duplicated by Trinity. Neo gestured for her to jump on his back.  
"No way. I could die or get paralyzed."  
"Listen, if those guys find you it will be worse lots worse, so come on!" Neo command."I'll leave without you don't think that I won't." That convinced her and she swung her arms around his shoulders and prayed.  
  
Neo felt sorry for Teeky he knew what she was feeling, and he hated being that cold to her but it needed to be done. He swung outside the window but unlike Byte and Trinity he didn't jump. He flew. He had only done it a few times but it was still amazing, hasn't everyone dreamed about flying? Teeky was digging her nails into his shoulders. Which brought him back to reality. They landed safely on the roof of the building.  
"Show off." Byte grumbled as he landed. Neo smirked at her considering that she was constantly showing off.  
"Stop smirking at me."  
He simply widened his grin.  
"C'mon let's go." Trinity commanded. "That won't fool the agents long."  
They ran like the hounds of ____ were after them. Which actually wasn't such a bad metaphor Neo mused. Not at all. They reached the warehouse were the equipment was. That's when Neo sensed them. Agents. The shot pierced the night air one came straight at his heart. And it seemed to freeze. Oh so they wanted to play did they? He hoped they were good losers.  
He sped toward them impossibly fast and all bullets aimed at him froze and dropped. But in the distance he heard a yelp as they caught Gizmo in the back of the knee and the shots that rang out from Byte gun, she couldn't hit them, but she managed to nick one, which was a great accomplishment. He took all this in a second. In that second he was districted long enough for a slug to find his left arm. He yelped loudly.  
"NEO!!" Trinity's yelled crossed the shoot out.  
"GET GOING!!" he'd hold them off and take them down. He sped forward no other bullets hitting him. Trinity was already in the building with Teeky and Byte was helping Gizmo in when a bullet nicked her right arm. But they made it in. Agent Brown was last original agent and the one who had shot his friends. Then Neo was there in the blink of an eye behind Agent Brown.  
He grabbed the Agents arm and broke it.  
"What the! Anderson!"  
"MY NAME IS NEO!!" he yelled as he deleted the Agents, RI. He had found he could deleted them quicker if he was close by.  
He spun to face the other two Agents. The were Webb and Veitch. He cocked an eyebrow and smiled. They ran. He appeared as though by magic in front of Wedd.  
He deleted him before Webb could smirk and say."Have your games now Anderson, because play times going to be over. New Player....." What did THAT mean, it wasn't just some empty dying threat, trouble was coming... More trouble than they were already in.   
  
"New Player what's that supposed to mean!?" Gizmo snapped. He was in a bad mood Neo could see. Well getting shot could do that to a person. He himself was in a bad mood not only had this New Player player business and his arm hurt too. What happened to your RI happened to your physical body. Even if you healed your RI the damage to your real body still existed. That was the reason why he had scars on his chest where he had been shot.   
"If I knew I would have done something about it by now." He snapped it frustrated him just as much..  
"Not what, who." Trinity said  
"Yeah, that's it. A new Agent maybe?" Neo said.  
Their conversation was broken by a groan from the next room. A Teeky struggled though the door. They had already explained her new reality to her she hadn't taken it much better than he had.   
"How are you feeling?" Trinity asked.  
"Not very good."  
"The food." Gizmo said with mock seriousness.  
They all broke out in to laughter. Byte had once said " When we stop laughing, we stop breathing. Laughing keeps us from thinking about things to hard, especially bad things."  
"No the food is a thing to cry about not laugh about." Byte corrected.  
Neo felt obliged to agree. But despite everything that had happened and the conditions he had to live under, he had never had more of a reason to live. He hoped that the others felt similarly or another Cypher might make a guest appearance. Because nothing was as dangerous as a traitor, he hoped.  
  
  
Agent Veitch was desperate, so he called upon a file that was made for cases like this."Dark One" was a file so classified that only one of the three agents knew it. His predecessor Agent Smith had the code and it had been passed to him. He double clicked on it and the file appeared on the computer  
  
Dark One  
Classified File  
Password **********  
  
The dark one-to be used only if the Rebel's "ONE" appears. Recently discovered contact line 918.472.3005.- Agent Smith  
ORIGINAL dark one-the first. Mission successful. Dark one destroyed.  
-Agent Alpha  
  
Agent Alpha?! Amazing the first Agent had worked on this. No one knew what had happened to him. But if he pondered this longer the humans could cause more damage. He punched the contact line. And was greeted but an arrogant haughty voice.  
"Uh yeah this is Patrick."  
"Dark One report here immediately."  
"Holy crap. Who are you?!" he hissed. In the background he heard a soft female voice protest. Commanding for him to get back in bed.   
"Report in two hour." he cut the link.   
Was it possible that this human's abilities matched Anderson's? He proceeded to download two Agent programs. He noticed a new files.  
Agent-male, Caucasian, brown hair,eyes  
Agent-male, African  
Agent-female, Caucasian,blond hair,browneyes  
Agent-female, African  
Intrusting, he double clicked "Agent-male,African" and "Agent-female, Caucasian,blond hair,brown eyes." Two human prisoners, street bums he had collected for this dilemma morphed into the physical descriptions. They both wore suits similar to his. The Africian stood and rumbled.  
"I am Agent White."  
"And I am Agent Leahy." The female Agent said.  
"We have a meeting with the Dark One." he said and they followed, they had received a briefing though their ear phones. He didn't like the idea of dealing with humans, they were erratic, relied on their emotion, and were stubborn and always needed reasons for everything. Machines were better but sometimes a human virus appeared that refused to be deleted.  
  
A figure in the doorway what that of a tall human. When he moved into the light Agent Veitch got a better look at him. He had blond hair and brown eyes, according to his files he was good looking for human standards. He wore khakis, a navy windbreaker, and gym shoes.  
"Uh, I guess you're the guy who called me."  
"Perspective." Agent Leahy grunted.  
"Who's the ugly brood?" the Dark One asked indicating Agent Leahy.  
"That is not your concern at this moment. You in the past made a deal with us. Please give us a summery of the deal you made."  
"Sure, you boys don't have much of a sense of humor do ya now? Well a year or two ago this dude, Smith I think it was said he could make me rich famous whatever I wanted." he gave a snort." Now what human in their right mind would give that up?  
Well in turn I had to be prepared to face this One dude who might show up. Sooo he takes me to this room and bam I'm waking up in a severely ugly place, the real world as he explained it to me. He explained that my entire life had been a dream, not very nice. But now in the Matrix I can do some really cool things. Flying is probably the coolest part. So I no longer play battery for you dudes, I'm the last line of defense. I very nice trade if I say so my self."  
"Yes for a Human I guess it would be."Agent Veitch said coldly.  
"You son of a..." the human snapped.  
"Emotions aside." Agent Veitch commanded,"You have a job to do."  
"Okay so who do I have to hack?" he asked   
"Thomas Anderson now he goes by the name 'Neo'." Agent White informed him.   
"Anderson?" the guy asked with intrust.  
"Do you know him?"   
"Yeah I teased him in Junior High and High School." he said, and sounded quite plaesed."Lousy computer geek."  
"Hmm could this be used against him?" Agent Veitch asked.  
"I highly doubt that." Agent White said gaining looks of intrust."He has killed many men, destroyed several Agents and has the abilities of our Dark One. I highly doubt that a childhood bully would have an affect on him now."   
"Wow, wouldn't have expected that from him."   
"Do not underestimate him, it will be your last mistake." Agent White warned  
"I can handle my self thanks." The human growled.  
"We will contact you when Anderson reappears which will be soon."  
"Okay." The Dark One answered stupidly. He turned and began to leave.  
"On the other hand I believe we have just found our clue." Agent White said and the two sentinels and a human crowded around him."I believe we can use this man, who they will soon try to awaken."  
The human smiled, a blood thirsty smile that Agent Veitch liked, Smith had chosen well. Very well indeed.  
  
Neo leaned back and closed his eyes, it was his first night watch and so so far it was extremely boring. Though he didn't know how pleased Morpheus would be if he found out that he had fallen asleep on the job. It was only the second time he'd ever been on watch. After only his second trip into the Matrix he'd needed recovery time. He grimaced at the memory, lead in your chest was not a pleasant experience. He had healed his RSI, but his physical body was another story, once damage has been done to the physical body it needs actual physical treatment. When a still hooked in person gets hurt, human heal the SI, but the machines healed the actual body.   
"What the...?" Neo exclaimed as he looked back at the computer. Agents were at Zekk's house! He let loose a long string of imaginative swears ran around and pounded on every one's door, except Teeky he just couldn't do it to her.  
They all appeared bedraggled especially Byte and Gizmo.   
"What's wrong Neo?" Morpheus said pushing to the front of the pack.  
"Agents are at Zekks house." Neo exclaimed, trust something to happen on his watch! But still underneath he was glad he liked hurting the Agents, liked it a lot.  
"I believe we should take no action." Morpheus said.  
"WHAT!?" the entire crew yelled, even Trinity.  
"He knows nothing of us. So the Agents pose no problem."  
"Actually, he knows, because I told him." A soft voice said from behind them."He only knows about Neo.."  
"We're screwed!" Gizmo yelled."They know Neo works for Morpheus and Trinity works with Morpheus. This also puts me and Byte's necks on the line! Lady you just signed our death warrants!"   
"I didn't even know about Agents when I told him." She tried to explain her action.  
"I warned you!" Neo snapped.   
"So we have to go in." Trinity said quietly. Odd she seemed reluctant to go into the Matrix.  
"Almightily we doing this or not?" Tank asked. Hoping into his usual chair.  
"Yeah full force." Trinity agreed.  
"Yee-ha" Byte added dryly.  
"Yeah well what they don't expect is the most likely to work." Neo said."Worked last time at least."  
"I hope your right."  
"I hope I am too."  
The odd feeling of being "downloaded" was almost unnoticeable for their was so many other things on his mind. They appeared in a dark room a block away from Zekk's apartment. The whole group moved forward but Neo held back and grabbed Trinity's arm.  
"Neo? What's wrong." she turned and faced him.  
"I guess I could ask you the same question. Something's up Trin what is it?"  
The haunted expression on her face scared him more than any Agent. It had really spooked her and anything that scared Trinity was BAD really BAD.  
"You died Neo you died."  
"I can't be killed in the Matrix, you know that Trin." he put his arm around.  
"The man who killed you, he was flying Neo."   
Their conversation was cut short by their arrival at Zekk's apartment building. It was a decrepit old building.  
"What's the plan?" Trinity said shifting into her second in command role. Trin never showed any weakness, she was really amazing.  
"Two go up though the window. The rest though the door. Neo? Byte?"  
"All three of them are up there, Zekk is alive they haven't hurt him yet.His wife's unconscious, she probably Od'ed on what ever she takes. Another human up there, his sense is fuzzy, odd."  
"Thank God Zekk isn't dead!!" Teeky exclaimed.  
Byte continued."All I see is alot of shooting, some blood. Things are gonna get pretty ugly."  
Neo wondered if Byte would try to stop a mission if she was gonna die. No she was heroic and knew what needed to be done. She had become the crew's little sister and losing her would be tough. But would she stop if somebody else was gonna die, his chances of dying were slim to none. But the rest were dangerously mortal in the Matrix. He was scared not for him but for his friends, he had a bad feeling bout this.  
"Let's go!"he yelled and held Trinity.  
He flew up with Trinity in his arms. Her gun was drawn and as soon as they reached the window, the shooting started...   
  
  
  



	2. Known Revalations

**The Dark One 2  
**by   
Paleshyson  
PG  
READ DARK ONE FIRST!!!!  
  


Summary; Continuation from The Dark One. Neo and co. are on a mission to save a new crew member's brother, but things go horribly wrong. Leading to a discovery that could destroy the crew.  
  
Trinity felt Neo wrap his arms around her, gosh it felt good. Even thought what they were about to pull could legally be called suicide. They flew up, it was amazing none of Neo's descriptions could compare to the real deal. She upholstered her hand gun and was ready to fire and the world blew apart bullets came flying though the window and just stopped before they hit her. Neo looked down at her and smiled. She opened fire not hitting the Agents, of course unless Neo was in the fight the chance off actually hitting an Agent was obsolete. But it drew them away from Zekk.  
They entered the apartment though the blow out window. Neo sped past her toward an Agent he moved fast beyond belief. What surprised her about the Agent he "fought"(Neo was beating the Agent so bad that it wasn't even a fight) was black, and the other new Agent who at the moment was fighting a double attack by Gizmo and Byte. Those two despite everything they made a good team. Morpheus and Teeky were ganging up on Agent Veitch, Teeky was fighting with her brother in her mind, she knew it.  
"Trinity get my brother OUT OF HERE!!!" Teeky yelled. Got_ it. _Trinity began running toward the next room. On their flight Neo had told her which room Zekk was in. The room was suddenly lit by a bright light as one of the Agents got deleted.   
"Let's go," whispered a soft voice next to her. Neo! Not only was he fast he was quite too! It was pretty creepy sometimes.  
They burst in though the door by a well timed kick by Neo. Trinity held her gun ready for to kill. A man sat on the sofa a gun pressed against a very scared looking Zekk's head. The man was handsome with blond hair and brandy colored eyes. But his beauty was ruined by a cruel sneer on his face. A look of shock passed over Neo's face and was quickly replaced by anger.  
"Why hello computer geek and goth brood." he sneered,"You want this guy don't you? Alive right?"he threw back his head and laughed, not a nice laugh either."Well we can't have what we want now can we?"  
"NO!" She knew what was going to happen and obviously so did Neo he sped forward to try to save Zekk's life.  
BANG! A single shot ended Zekk's life. That guy had murded him in cold blood! Zekk slumped back down his eyes rollong back, his blood staining the old tattered green sofa.  
"You son of a "Neo began  
"Tisk Tisk Tommy." the blond man mocked. Then he opened fire on THEM! Trinity felt the familair flow of adrenalin flow though her veins. But with Neo by her side she would not get hit. He extended his hand to block the five bullets headed toward them. But she still ducked, old fighter instincts, thank God she did.  
The bullets began to slow as if in water. Then for no reason the sped forward again, not as fast as before but still fast enough to kill you make no mistake. Neo took in a quick breath and moaned. Then she noticed it. A bloody hole in his hand. He looked down at his hand with a horrified expression on his face.  
"Run."he whispred,"run..." They took his advise they ran like all the evils in hell were after them. She heard the man's laughter ringing   
"RUN RUN IT MAKES IT INTRUSTING!!" he cackled.  
"We're going!"She yelled at the rest of crew. Neo blasted the two remaining agents into a wall, killing their host bodies.   
"WHAT ABOUT MY BROTHER?!"Teeky asked hysterically. But she knew it she just needed to hear it. She hoped what she knew would be deemed wrong.  
"HE'S DEAD I COULDN'T SAVE HIM ALRIGHT?! AND WE WON'T BE ABLE TO SAVE OUR OWN FREAKIN SELVES IF WE DON"T GET OUT NOW!!!" Neo screamed, he was scared,angry and in pain.  
"No." Teeky whispered.  
"Let's GO!"Byte yelled as she smash a window in with her elbow. She jumped out first followed by Gizmo then by Morpheus.  
"Trin Go!" he yelled because he didn't know what Teeky was going to do, right now she was sobbing hysterically could she get her head together in time. She didn't argue as she jumped out the window but she hoped Neo would get out off there and Teeky too. She couldn't loose Neo now, not now. The sea air bit at her as she jumped the distance between the buildings. As she landed she heard gun shots from the building she had just left.  
"NEO!!!"  
  
"Teeky we got to get out of here! NOW!" Neo yelled.  
"My brother, my bro.." she whispered.  
"Not now, not now." he hissed under his breath. He was getting ready to grab her and jump out the window. When three shots rang out, all off them missed by a long shot, but it seemed to break Teeky out of her grief long.   
"Neo?!"  
"GO! GO! GO!"  
She ran though the smashed window and jumped. Just then the blond murder gun spit out a few more slugs. Okay so he couldn't stop them, but he could dodge them. Time seemed to slow and he moved fast so he felt sluggish. He successfully dodged all the bullets, all off which would have caught him in the head or chest(where had this guy learned how to shoot?!). He moved to the each side dodging each slug better than any Agent could have.  
He stood up right and fire at Patrick who's face was twisted in an angry scowl, but he mimiced Neo's move. It was impossiable! Freakin impossiable!  
Patrick threw his head back and laughed. He really should be more observant, becuase on the wall behind him Neo had just turned all the nail that held it up into toothpicks. Neo allowed a smirk to cross his mouth. Patrick realized that something was up but it was too late for he had just nudged wall down on that murder.  
He ran and flew out the window he chose not to push his luck with Patrick, not yet anyway.  
He landed quietly on the top of a near by building. He was quickly surrounded by his fiend. Trinity ran up to him and for a second or two he just held her.  
"I thought you were dead," she whispered  
"We almost were."Teeky piped in. Her eyes were red he knew she had been mourning her brother."I'm sorry I nearly got you killed Neo, I wasn't thinking."   
"Can we save this for later? I'm too young and too cute to die!" Byte exclaimed  
"Morpheus? Please can I shoot her. Puh-leaze?!" Gizmo begged.  
"Yeah I agree with Byte." Neo said,"Let's bail."  
"Neo,"Byte whispered,"He's like you. He can really hurt you so you can't heal your self. Who is he Neo?"  
"A person I would rather forget but I'll tell all of you later."  
"We're in deep crap aren't we?"  
"A mountain Byte. A freaking mountain."  
  
Neo heard the now familiar whir sound and sat up. His hand hurt like hell. There was a hole in his hand. If not for the blood you would be able to see yeah though that hole. All around him he heard moans and groans as the others came to conscience.   
"Nasty." Tank said looking at Neo's hand.  
"Check the others first."  
"Already did not in much better shape. Teeky's in shock. I feel for her I really do." Tank said remembering Dozer.  
"Tank spend some time with her." Morpheus said from behind them,"You know the feeling, and comfort comes best from those who it."  
"Yeah." he said and moved off.  
"Well need to look at that hand. It's the most serious physical injury." In a way that was a relife. No one else had got shot. He guessed it was alot of broken bones and black eyes.(Byte had a real shiner)  
"I think when we get you patched up we shall take a trip to the Oracle. Plus we have three new recruits who might also hold some keys to this new enemy." Trinity must have told him about Patrick. Not yet..Not yet...  
  
Byte was worried that the guy Trinity had described would show. Really worried he was Neo's match. Neo their trump card had a match. But who knows? Maybe this Oracle lady could help out. She was suppose to all know alot. It was worth a shot.   
They enerted a old building. Morpheus nodded to a old man with a beard. Was he some kind of gaurd or was Morpheus just being a nice guy. Either seemed quite possable to her.  
She elbowed Neo in the side.  
"Who's the dude with the beard?" she asked  
The taller man looked down at her."I don't know anything bout him." The answers always managed to amaze her.  
The stepped into an elevator that she trusted as much as she did an Agent. The rode up in silence. Neo's words echoed in her mind _Hey, that lady can be deceptive. Don't trust what she says to closely. Don't under estsimate her._  
The exited the elevator and Byte was in surroundings she had only seen in the news. It was were shootings acoured. There goes that famous suburbia open mindedness again. But she did inch her hand near her handgun. The reached a door way and a woman opened it. She reminded her off a nun or something.  
"Ah we have been expecting you." she said."Byte follow me." Dude!  
"Umm sure, great." _Real smooth._  
She lead her though a room were there were a bunch a kids. One was bending spoons with his mind, he was a white kid what was he doing in Eastern digs? They all looked at her, but she felt like they were looking though her. It gave her the creeps.  
The lady gestured into a kitchen? Okay well now she had seen everything. And the Oracle reminded her of a Grandma instead of whatever she was suppose to be.  
"Hello dear.The girl with many names, Renee, Paleshyson, and your name now Byte."  
"Dude!"  
The lady chuckled softly."Well I needed to gain your trust somehow? Ironic is it not that you would figure you would trust me the most."  
"I don't trust alot off people."  
"No you don't. You've been hurt before. Since you were a little kid you haven't trusted people. And like them less then you trust them. I don't blame you child, I really don't. But you are loyal to humanity, mostly because of religion."  
"Oh wow..."  
"Kiddo you're a special. You've know it your entire life just didn't know what. You see when ever the 'One' appears he has a sort of sidekick a person a deacade younger who can predict the future. It's your calling child."  
"So I'm a sidekick that's my destiny. Sorry if I don't jump for joy."  
The Oracle chuckled."You have many roles in life.We all do. Don't let one dictate the others. You have other roles such as a wife you will eventually become. The captian of a ship. You have a bright future trust in it. Those you trust you defend with your life and eventually many will trust you more than you can imagine."  
"Thank you miss Oracle? That's not right is it?"  
"A good soul my child a good soul. One that not even the big bad world could corrupt. Goodbye kid."  
She smiled and nodded.  
"Hey you couldn't tell me who I'm gonna get hitched too?"  
More laughter. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."  
"Uh-Oh."  
She left with one thought on her mind._ Not Gizmo puh-leave not Gizmo!_  
  
Gizmo leaned against a wall and tapped his. He wanted out these kids were seroiusly freaking him out. Why couldn't he wait with Neo and the others. This was not fair! _Well life isn't fair sucker!_ A phrase that was law at his old high school.   
"You didn't kill her did ya?" he hissed at Byte as she left the waiting area.  
"Bite me!"  
"I'd get sick!" _It's shameless the way we flirt._  
_"_Hello Gizmonice to meet you. Glad you've decided to join me. I do believe it's not how you would expect a lil ol' lady to talk."  
"Naw lady it's actually pretty cool."  
"I know. You know why you're here so let's not beat around the bush. You're afraid that I'm gonna tell you 'sorry kid you going to die'. You will die everyone does but if truly understand death isn't the end it's the beginning of a brand new adventure, hope by then you'll see it that way. But here I'm gonna tell you a lil' of what's gonna happen. You'll bring hope kid there is something bout you. Wether you believe it or not."she lit a cigarette and continued."Kid I won't lie to you. You are going to get the crap kicked out of you. But you'll have someone, she will give _you_ hope. She'll teach you how to laugh again, and you, teach her how to trust without each other you'll be lost. Also never believe a word that an Agent tells you."  
"Thanks I'll keep all that in mind."   
"I hope you do and goodluck Rainer."  
He took on last look at the lady who scared him more than any Agent. _Rainer sacred by a lil ol lady!? Dude you are so pathetic! _Well they had never met the Oracle!  
  
Teeky looked at the old lady who was suppose to help her. She reminded her of her aunt.  
"Hello Jennie, nice to meet you. Please sit down." the Oracle welcomed her with.  
"Uh- Thanks." she perched on the end of the chair. Not knowing what to expect. And she thought she had seen everything since she entered the Real World.  
"You are confused, scared and angry, all at the same time. I'm sorry about your brother."  
"Did you know it was gonna happen?!" she yelped,"Why didn't you do anything?! he could be alive!"  
Suprisingly the older women didn't raise her voice but there was somrething in her eyes."Teeky if I had told you and the rest of the crew. You know what would have happened? Neo,Morpheus,Gizmo and you would have died. But that is not all Byte and Trinity, Tank too would have never been the same. How could I do that? Answer me that."  
"I see your point." she mumbled looking down at her feet.  
"But you don't understand it."   
"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO PLAY GOD!"  
She smiled at her. " Do you think I make these choices by myself?"   
"Whoa..."  
"I will not go any further. Sorry kid. But you know what? You are gonna be famous. You will never be forgotten. Remember what's right and protect those you care for."  
"That's all?"  
"Sorry but that's it."  
"Bummer. Can you at least tell me who I'm going to marry?"  
"Sorry you die a virgin."  
  
Neo tapped his foot he was nervous he hoped the Oracle could give him so answers. On their new enemy. Well maybe new wasn't the word for it.   
"The Oracle wants you." Teeky said coming out of the familair hallway. She seemed down about something. Well he had been pretty upset to when he had came out of the Oracle's kitchen with the message he or Morpheus would die.  
He stood up and walked down the hall. When he passed the room with the other potetials the spoon kid looked up at him and smile. Strange kid but then again those are the ones who might end up saving you, you never know.  
"Have you told them yet?" She asked as he entered the kitchen.  
"Ahh No." He admitted.  
"Why haven't you? You ashamed?" The Oracle asked.  
"It's not something you broadcast."  
"You'll probably have to kill him, you know that already don't you?"  
"I really don't care, he deserves it. He's a murderer, killed Zekk in cold blood. No creature like that deserves pity."  
"So you could kill your own brother?"  
"Yeah I could, and will."  
  


To be continued....  
  
What did you think? Review it! Please!  


  
  
  
  



	3. Another Blow

The Dark One 3  
  
  
"It isn't so much matter of defeating him as it is, of converting him to our side." Trinity assessed   
  
"Can't and won't happen." Neo corrected, Patrick wasn't interested in what was right only power and money, and he already had them both, and what was right had never meant anything to him.   
  
"How can you be sure?"  
  
"I-uh asked the Oracle" He hated lying but also announcing that their greatest enemy was his brother didn't appeal to him anymore than lying to them. Across the dining area Byte arched her eyebrow. Damn that kid she knew he was lying, but she was smart enough to not say any thing.   
  
"I wouldn't want with us anyway." Teeky spat out bitterly, remembering her own brother. Would she hate him if she found out his brother had killed hers? Then again when he found his brother he would kill him, and not just for Zekk's murder.  
  
"Yeah I agree with Teeky, the guy's scum, doesn't deserve the air he breaths." Gizmo added. Trinity remained silent as if thinking about something that had happened before, something she didn't like, Neo could read the expression on her face, and it worried him, what was she hiding? It couldn't be anything more than he was, everyone needed to keep their own secrets, the truth could kill.  
  
"I still don't get were this guy came from, ya know? He just popped up, I mean is he mentioned in the prophecy?" Gizmo continued.  
  
"Wow, he finally asked a question that stumped me." Byte commented dryly.  
  
"All I know is that I'm the one that's got to stop him."  
  
"You aren't doing it alone." Trinity snapped, and everyone in the room nodded in agreement, even Gizmo.  
  
"Though I recommend we try to come up with a plan, before we take this suicide mission." Tank added. Gizmo though broke out into laughter, "Plan?! We don't need no stinkin plans!" Only Byte began to giggle, everyone else groaned, including Neo. But it didn't look good, but did it ever he though grimly.  
  
  
Byte paced around the Neb's deck like a caged animal. Twenty million question were spinning around her head, sometimes bumping together making things even more confusing. One of the main one was what was Neo hiding? To some more teenage related problems. She wanted to kick something badly, old soccer player habits, but a good way to get rid of frustrations. She was pacing so fast that she didn't see Gizmo walk right in front of her.  
  
"Hey! Watch where ya going!" She snapped, she was in a mood.  
  
"I wasn't the one looking at my feet."  
  
"So you should have moved!"  
  
"Oh what?! Make way for the Princess?"  
  
"Yeah why not?"  
  
"Why you little.." He never did get to finish his sentence because the Neb hit something or another and sent them flying of their feet. Landing in a tangled mess on the floor. With Byte right on top of Gizmo.  
  
"Blasted ship." She said quickly, though she could feel her cheeks turning red. And to her surprise, he was blushing too. She quickly sat up, in one rushed movement. It was an extremely awkward moment to say the least.  
  
"Uh-yeah." She nodded quickly. Why was her heart beating so fast, it didn't make sense it was Gizmo, annoying Gizmo. But it was Gizmo, why did she though have butterflies in her stomach. It didn't make sense, and then he began leaning in and they kissed. But she liked it , a lot. When they finally stopped,  
  
"I hate you."  
  
"I hate you too."  
  
Then they kissed again.  
  
  
Neo and Trinity were walking around checking for damage, they had run into some rubble, which had been the remains of Camelot, a ship that had been lost three months earlier. The captain Tech, had been cocky but always cautious, but the sentinels, had some how managed to track them down, they had been hoping that by some miracle they had survived, but it just didn't work out that way.   
  
"Teeky mentioned Tech before, didn't she?"  
  
"Yeah, he was a good person. I worked with him before." Once again she was talking about the past he knew nothing about.   
  
"Yeah-uh-this before thing, could I know something about it or do I have to guess?"  
  
"It was along time ago, and I was a different person then."  
  
"Yeah, but you still know a lot about me, and I know barely anything about you. I mean Trinity I love you but what is it, can't you trust me."  
  
She leaned closed to him and whispered, "It's just that, you love me, and I love you."  
  
"You could never do anything that bad, even if you killed me I'm pretty sure you would have a good reason." His weak joke didn't even manage to make her groan. She just looked at him with her green eyes. " I wish that were true." She obviously didn't believe in unconditional love, he really didn't either but she was the exception. He touched the side of her face, " It is true." He insisted. She closed her eyes, "How can you say that when you don't know all the facts?" "Because I know you."  
  
Over head they heard someone swear, and the sound of foot steps. "Must be trouble." Neo commented, but the real trouble was down here with Trinity. But this was her excuse out of a hard situation, she climbed the ladder to the main deck. This wasn't over not by a long shot. He followed quickly, with a feeling of dread that he had become accustom to.  
  
Gizmo looked like he had seen the dead rising from their graves, and Byte looked worse. "We lost some more people, an entire ship." Teeky said slowly, as in shock, ",it was that monster again."  
  
Morpheus was sitting in a near by chair with his hands folded like he was praying, maybe he was. "We lost Milwaukee's team to him, a member of Chicago's team was with them and escaped with the news. But it will happen again, and again. Neo I hate to ask this of you, and I wish we could gather more information, but the resistance will die if he is not defeated now. So, can you destroy him?"  
  
"Yeah- I mean just another battle, right?"  
  
"He's toast." Byte said reassuringly.  
  
"Just in case, do I get your quarters if you get killed?" Gizmo joked, he then put his arm around Byte's shoulders. When had that happened? Many people on the ship gave them an odd look, except Trinity, would had "I told you so" written on her face.   
  
  
They stood in a dark room in the city . Neo could sense the people on the street below , some where ready to be unplugged, he only hoped that he could keep people alive to unplug them. It was scary, that this may be his last time, for everything. He was not though going out without a fight, Patrick would, if he survived, never forget this day.   
  
"Kiss her why don't you? It would be SO poetic!!" Byte insisted.   
  
"Yeah- Why don't you?" Trinity asked looking him in the eye. He obliged them and kissed her, with the feel that it could be their last. Byte and Gizmo began making gagging noises. But amongst the giggling, he broke the kiss, it was a bad feeling a really horrible feeling, almost a premonition, that ran along his spine.  
  
"He's coming isn't he?" Trinity asked reading his expression.  
  
"YEAH!! AND WE ONLY HAVE A MINUTE!!!" Byte screeched so loud that Gizmo flinched.   
  
"Everybody leave, you can't stay."   
  
"No way! I'm killing that beast for what he did to my brother! And you can't take that away from me." Teeky growled, she seemed taller that her slightly over five foot frame should allow. Byte looked so nervous that he was sure that she was going to start going gray if they didn't move soon.  
  
"Alright! I've had enough! You are coming now so don't be an idiot!" Byte screeched at Teeky, "Dying doesn't solve anything!! Aren't you smarter than that?! Neo is a big okay, he can handle his self, you can't! So lets move for goodness' sake!!" Teeky stood there dumbfounded for a moment, then allowed herself to be dragged out of the room. He could hear them running down the stairs, and he could sense their emotions: love, hate, fear, and regret. He held a handgun in both hands, like this was going to be some old west shoot out, though he highly doubted that Pat would say "Howdy partner" or "This town ain't big enough for the both of us!"   
  
Just then the wall in front of him, shimmered and disappeared, and Patrick stepped though. He had always had a smirk on his face, and the prospect of a battle hadn't wiped it of his face.   
  
"Well, howdy partner!! But this town ain't big enough for the two of us!" He drawled. So sue me, Neo thought. "Why brother, we look so grim! Being a rebel not all it's cracked up to me?"  
  
Neo smirked willing to do anything to annoy his brother. "Well, it's a helluva lot better than being your brother!" Patrick nodded, "It's mutual."  
  
Patrick smirked, "Ya know, I didn't believe it was you at first. I didn't believe you had the stomach to kill people, or even be able to kill people for that matter. I remember when we were kids you were always getting the crap beat out of you all the time. Pretty ironic."  
  
"Some things change. You being an idiot hasn't." Anything to buy Trinity and the others a little more time. He would even resort to name calling with his brother, like when they were kids. That was lifetimes ago for Neo and the good old days for Pat when he was top dog. Even now, being the Dark One he had yet to make people cower before him. If Pat did defeat him, he would go on without resistance, and would make Hitler look like a joke, and Stalin like a nice guy. Patrick was studying him, and looked like he was thinking, even though he was stupid in a academic sense, he was clever, and that in some cases can be just as dangerous.   
  
"You know it'll be good to get rid of you, but if you think I'm doing this for the jokers in the suits, you got another thing coming to you."  
  
"Pat, You're an idiot, but your not that stupid." Actually this whole thing was stupid, they were adults, yet they were teasing each other like they were eleven years old. Instead of throwing another insult out at him he walked up to him, and they stood face to face.  
  
"That's the problem Tom, or should that be Neo? You know my plans, and worse yet can stop them. And that just doesn't work. Plus I've really never liked you that much." With that Patrick punched him in the stomach, hard. Neo went flying into the back wall. His stomach retracted, while Patrick stood there gloating. His brother moved to attack again, but this time Neo was ready for him, and knocked him across the jaw, visibly splitting Pat's lip.   
  
"That Hurt!"   
  
"Duh."  
  
Then they really got at it. Neither really seemed to gain an advantage, all they managed was to destroy every inch of the room, but soon the battle that seemed slow to the fighters but anyone watching Neo knew it would seem unbelievably fast. His only relief was that the others had to be away by now. Finally the battle left the apartment, and the two for a second hovered in the thin air. Out of the corner of his eye Neo saw people gathering below, the agents were going to have a tough time covering this up. People don't fly everyday. Some were scared out of their wits, while other though it was seriously cool.   
  
"Well it will be nice to have an audience won't it, to see the fall of the One." Instead of lunging at him he took out a handgun, and shot the entire round at him. You would think that the Dark One would be able to shoot better, because he only managed to nick ankle. Now it was Neo's turn, it would have been right that he felt a little bad drawing a gun on his brother, but his brother was a murder. And Trinity, Tank, Byte, Morpheus, Gizmo, and thousands of other people meant more to him than the scum that was his brother.   
  
He let the round fly with better accuracy than Patrick's, but he only managed to nick him three times. Damn. This wasn't good.   
  
"NEO!!!" Someone screamed from the building to his left, "THE AGENTS GOT TRINITY!!!" Byte was standing and from this far away he could tell her left arm was busted. Disbelief washed though him and for a second he didn't react. In that split second he was distracted Patrick got of a shot, and he proved he could shoot. Neo's left shoulder burned, then went numb. He lost his concentration on staying flying. And he fell. But as he fell he saw Patrick taking a person from the Agents who had appeared on the rooftop of another building. And he knew who it was. Trinity. He couldn't concentrate it was all a blur.   
  
"NEO!? NEO?!" Byte's voice shocked him out of the second coma. His brain still wasn't right the bullet hole in his shoulder hurt like hell, he could tell the bullet had gone though solid bone. His subconscious or whatever it was stepped in, and made a spilt second decision. Then for no reason he grew a pair of wings, ripped his shirt and coat to shreds, but the wings slowed him to when he hit the ground his legs wouldn't support him. That was odd... Then he collapsed.  
  
  
Byte ran fast she had to warn Neo, she was running faster than any Olympic athlete. And her gym teachers had given her a B. She found him quickly, people flying over a city didn't happen everyday. She reached the nearest building and raced past the security guards, who didn't even notice her. Two flying people were way more intrusting than her. She practically flew up the seventy stories. Like she could wait for the elevator! She reached the roof, panting and her broken arm was screaming at her but this was way more important. Then it was like a sledgehammer got taken to her skull. A person falling. That monster pacing around a prisoner. Neo getting shot twice. Her jumping of the building. Teeky screaming. Living shadows. She took a deep breath like she had surfaced from being under water. The visions. But right now Neo was important, she had to tell his about Trinity, the she could analyze the warnings.  
  
"NEO!! THE AGENTS GOT TRINITY!!!" She screamed at him. He looked at her then seemed to freeze but that wasn't right it didn't look right like some one had paused him. But nobody paused Patrick that was sure. And he got of two shot both hit Neo jolting him out of pause mode and then he fell. She saw that he had been shot in the shoulder, and what looked way to close to his hear.  
  
"NEO?!NEO?!" She screamed at him. He was the One, he couldn't die, it couldn't be real.. He fell like a ton of bricks, she looked down. No that is like so impossible, not happening. It was crazy, then again insane people do crazy things. She said a prayer, took a breath, and jumped. Then she saw her chance, a tent or whatever that people put over doorways so they don't get wet in the rain. She landed and ripped though the canvas, and managed to land unharmed. She spun around into the ally in time to see Neo land on the ground, what was really odd was that he had wings, "What the hell?!" She asked herself in disbelief. He crumpled to the ground, the wings disappeared.   
  
She sprinted down the alley and kneeled down beside him. She grab his wrist and tried to take his pulse, but her hands were shaking so much that she couldn't get anything. She slipped out her cell phone, her hands shaking, and she was beginning to cry.  
  
"Operator."  
  
"Tank! Neo's shot, and I-I-I can't get a pulse." She gave into sobs, that racked her body. If Neo died the hope of freeing humankind died along with it.  
  
"I know, they're coming now."  
  
"It may be to late!!" She then grabbed Neo's neck, desperate to find a pulse, and she felt it, slow and getting slower, but it was there.  
  
"BYTE!!" Gizmo yelled coming down the alley followed by Morpheus and Teeky. As he reached her she began to sob again. "He's dying, and they got Trinity."  
  
"How did this happen?" Teeky asked horrified, as Morpheus and Gizmo picked Neo up. He looked like he was dead already. His skin looked waxy and gray. And nobody answered Teeky's question, maybe there wasn't an answer to it, or the crew wasn't willing to face it.  
  
  
Sorry about another cliffhanger, I'll try to get the next one out as soon as possible. Until then REVIEW THIS ONE!!! Please?! Sorry again for the wait!! Blame school!!   
  



	4. It's Always Darkest

The Dark One 4  
by Byte  
  
  
"You killed him!" Trinity spat as soon as the removed the hood from her head, but instead it came out, "U illed im!" they had drugged her and she still couldn't talk right, and they were lucky she couldn't say what was also on her mind. Patrick laughed and walked around her, he obviously understood what she had said.  
  
"Well he might not be dead, wouldn't bet on it though."  
  
"E ill ive, n kill u!"   
  
"I do love a girl with spirit, and in leather too."  
  
"srew u." It only made him laugh harder. He grabbed her face and made her look into his eyes, despite him being pure evil, he had beautiful eyes, big, brandy brown ones. They were strangely familiar. She couldn't quite place it. He let go of her face, and turned to an agent standing near by, and snapped his fingers.  
  
"Bring the antidote, I wanna ask her a few questions."  
  
"But-"  
  
"No buts, I get what I want, or do you forget I can delete you as well as Anderson." The agent sneered at that, but left the room.  
  
"I'm ot oing o tell u annting!",then she spat at him. He smiled at her a nasty smile, "Oh, but you will. And you'll be glad to do so." A shiver ran up her spine, at his tone. He was a monster. She prayed that Neo was alive, and that he would kill this monster, or even better, let her have the pleasure.  
  
  
  
Byte flinched as Gizmo bound her ankles and busted kneww, when she had jumped of the building, it turned out she had gotten hurt, but in fact she had broken both of her ankles. The adrenaline had kept her from feeling the broken ankles. Now even Gizmo was lecturing her.   
  
"What were you THINKING?!"  
  
"That Neo worth more any of us, and that he has to survive."  
  
"Well you're worth a lot to me, so promise that next time you'll use some brain cells."  
  
"I promise." She leaned over and they kissed, slow and long. It was nice to just be part of something so simple and wonderful.   
  
"Dude, you are suppose to be fixing her ankles, not making sure her tongue works fine." They broke apart and blushed deeply. Tank stood in the doorway.  
  
"How's Neo?" Byte asked quietly. She still felt like it was her fault, for no reason. Besides the fact that she was there.   
  
"Better, but he still needs a miracle." He sounded sad, like some one had canceled his birthday. But if Neo did die, well the fight was going to get a lot tougher, okay it might even be next to impossible.   
  
"This is all my fault." Byte moaned.  
  
"Yeah right, and while your at it, blame yourself for the food. Blaming yourself isn't going to heal Neo and bring Trinity back. So stop it!" Gizmo commanded. She never would have expected this from him, but tragedy brings out either a person's strength or weakness. Gizmo was a lot stronger than he looked. Neo though needed more than strength, he needed a miracle.  
  
  
Neo looked around, it was nighttime and he was in a car, his first car in fact, a huge boat, an '79 Buick that he had bought for two hundred bucks. He was in his late teens, next to him was Jamie, the first girl he loved, as a matter a fact, the only girl he had ever loved except for Trinity. Jamie leaned over a flipped on the radio, her strawberry blond hair falling in her face.  
  
"I love this song" she whispered.  
  
"What's it's name?"  
  
"Send me an Angel. I love it." She began humming along with the song.  
  
"Aw- I though you loved me."  
  
"I do Neo." He spun around and instead of Jamie sitting next to him, it was Trinity. Except she was younger and wearing a T-shirt and jeans.   
  
"Huh? Patrick kidnapped you though." She only smiled at him, and turned to study the road a head. He studied her for a second longer than turned his eyes to the road . The song ended, and REM's "It's the End of the World as we Know it" came on. Just then another car came barreling down the road, way to fast. Neo tried to swerve, and avoid the car, but it was going in all directions, and he couldn't predict which way it would go. There was nothing he could do. It was all noise and lights, and the sensation of being thrown. He must have blacked out for a moment, because when he woke up he was on the side of the road, lying on the gravel.  
  
He felt something wet on his head, he tried to reach his forehead, but trying to move his right arm, but that caused further pain. He could barely breath, but he could still hear. He saw the lights of the car, that had rammed into them nearby, but he couldn't see Trinity, or was she Jamie again? He tried to call out to her but he couldn't, instead he heard the people from the car.  
  
"Dude! I think they're hurt. We gotta do something!" Called one of them.  
  
"Shaddup. Get back in the car will you Dodge!" Commanded a second voice, bossy and familiar.   
  
"But Pat, they're hurt, bad I think." Dodge apparently said, Dodge, that was a familiar name. He recognized it, but it was fuzzy, he must have hit his head harder than he thought. But Pat was familiar, it was his brother, and he was willing to leave him to die?  
  
"You wanna be here when the cops get here?" Instead of an answer he heard footsteps coming toward him, and a face came into view, he had a mess of brown hair, and blue eyes. He swore loudly, and turned toward the car.  
  
"Pat! It's your brother!!"   
  
"Doesn't matter, get in the car!"  
  
"Well you can shove it Pat, I'm getting help."  
  
"Screw you."  
"Whatever." He heard a car door slam and tires squeal. Dodge leaned over his face again, and pressed his fingers against the artery in his neck. He felt like yelling at him, "Yes I have a pulse, now get some help!" Though for some reason talking was out of the question.  
  
"C'mon Tom, gimme something, you ain't a vegetable yet." Neo finally managed to get some syllables out. "Hope so." He choked out. Dodge sighed and ripped a piece of cloth from the bottom of his shirt.   
  
"Elp Jamie." Neo commanded. Dodge twitched than said, "She's in better condition than you dude, you need help." "Ok." He wrapped the cloth around his head.   
  
"I'll be back in a sec, okay? I gotta go get help." Neo tried to nod. Then blackness claimed him. He woke up again a paramedic was staring him in the face.   
  
"C'mon son can you tell me your name, anything?"  
  
"Tom" He managed to rasp out, he considered it for a second, "Anderson." The medic nodded, "Just hold on kid. We're gonna get you to the hospital." They were in an ambulance, he could hear the siren going off.  
  
"Jamie?" He managed to spit out.  
  
"The girl who was with, she's in the other ambulance." But Neo could tell something was wrong, the dude's tone of voice betrayed him. He wanted to ask more questions, but the dude's attention had shifted from him to another paramedic.  
  
"How's the kid." He wasn't a kid, thank you very much.   
  
"Not good, but he has a good chance."  
  
"Diagnosis?"   
  
"Concussion, definitely, probably a broken collar bones, his entire right side is bashed up real good, and of coarse superficial injuries. But what I'm afraid of is may be a broken rib punctured his lung, he was coughing up blood a minute ago." He had not been! Then again a minute ago he had been unconscious.  
  
"Poor kid, he's lucky though that other kid called it in, some more time and he might not have had a chance." He started nodding off again, but he fought it this time hoping he would get to hear something about Jamie. He had to stay awake.....he had to find out what happen to Jamie.   
  
He woke up again facing a bright light, "Am I suppose to go into the light?" He asked groggily, Faces popped over him, and came into focus.  
  
"Hey, Neo! Welcome back, and that is definitely not the bright light at the end of the tunnel, it's, a, lamp." Everything that had happened in the past few days came flooding back to him. Trinity getting kidnapped, Patrick, everything. He tried to sit up, but his formely numb shoulder and the area around his heart, suddenly screamed in pain. He lay back and swore softly.   
  
"Rest Neo." Morpheus commanded.  
  
"What about Trinity?"   
  
"Later, rest know."  
  
"No, I want to know now."   
  
"And I say knowing now won't do you any good, after you've rested we'll fill you in."   
  
"Just tell, is she alive."  
  
"Yes."  
  
  
  
Gizmo sighed and leaned back against the wall, the search they had going for Trinity wasn't turning up anything, all It was doing was getting them all frustrated, plus even if they did find her by some miracle, they couldn't fight the Dark One, until Neo was better. Teeky trotted up the street to meet him.  
  
"Lemme guess you didn't find anything?"   
  
"How did you ever guess?" She spat back bitterly, she had taken this on as her crusade, she probably wanted to kill the Dark One more than anyone. He had after all killed her brother in cold blood, then laughed about it. He had an older brother and a younger sister in the Matrix, so he could sympathize what it would be like to loose them.   
  
Teeky looked him in the eye, "If we can't find them, what's the use of looking?"  
  
He shrugged, then began singing, "We're looking, cuz we're looking!" He then lapsed in a Blink182 song which really didn't make any sense, but Gizmo never made sense, and proud of it! Teeky then gave him an angry look, "You think this is the time to start joking?! Honesty this is not the time."   
  
"What do you mean? It's always Miller Time?" She didn't even crack a smile at his dumb joke, in fact he had never seen her smile. "Listen as long as we got Neo, we gotta chance, anyway I printed out a sheet with potentials, we can check on them. It'll give us something to do."  
  
"What so they can replace us when the Dark One kills us?" Man did she have PMS or something? "No, so that when this is over we might actually have close to an entire crew, cause we all know that Byte is useless."   
  
"Let's go find this new potential." She commanded, the ice queen, that was what she was, cold as ice, with a heart of stone. What had happened to the panicked new recruit? Another one of the Dark One's kills.  
  
  
A youngish man sat slouched in a chair, it was a decent area of Chicago, Gizmo knew that he was the most qualified person on their list, but the problem was that he was almost to old to be released, he was almost twenty-nine, the cut off date. It would be close, but Neo had been a few months over the date, and he was fine.   
  
"What's his name?"  
  
"Oh yeah that might be slightly important, he calls himself Dodge."   
  
  
"So why did you lie to all of us?" Byte asked as she limped into the room, Neo had just managed to stay awake for an hour and the firing squad was already here.  
  
"Better question yet," he growled, "why are you asking, it isn't important."   
  
"Cause, something made my ability go psycho, and I saw the future without trying, and the Oracle was telling you something about the Dark One, dunno what, but still! So spill it Neo, I'm not the only person who know something's up by the way." He was amazed she managed to say that in an entire breath.  
  
"It's nothing that we already don't know, he's dangerous and I'm the only one who can stop him, so don't push it."   
  
"Fine! See what I care, it's only our necks on the line! But just to let you know, I don't think you'll be able to blow Trinity off this easy, when she gets back!" She yelled and limped out of the room, ruining her dramatic exit. Neo lay back down and realized that she was right, was he stupid enough to think that Trin wouldn't notice that something was up? But like she could say anything about keeping secrets from him. He couldn't but be angry at her, it was totally unreasoned, but at that moment he was mad at everything and everyone, nut most of all, himself. If he had been able to defeat Patrick, he might have been able to prevent all of this. He hated Patrick for everything, kidnapping Trinity, hurting his friends, and in the distant past, killing Jamie, and almost taking him with her.   
  
  
A figure stood beside him, "Byte I told you it's nothing."  
  
"It's a long way from nothing isn't it Tom?" He snapped his attention to the figure, it was Jamie, in her petite glory. She looked at him, her golden skin full of life and energy, unlike the last time he had seen her, gray with cheap-make up to try to create the illusion that she was just sleeping.   
  
"Jamie?" He sputtered.  
  
She nodded, she still looked like a teenager. "I guess you're wondering why I talking to you. Well it's just that I want you to know, now you can do something. You can do something so that Trinity's fate will not be the same I as mine was. You can do it Neo, Patrick was always all muscle and pride, you are smart, and have people you can trust."  
  
"Jamie, you sound like you're on Prozac."  
  
"If I didn't know about your chronic political incorrectness, I'd be insulted." She smirked, she brushed back a strand of his hair, "I'll always love you, Trinity's a lucky girl."   
  
Neo woke up with a start, getting shot gave you the weirdest dreams. He rubbed his temples, and groaned. Teeky walked, and cocked her head, "Well it's about time, we've been waiting."  
  
"How long was I asleep?"  
  
"Three days, we were getting worried." Yeah she looked worried. She was cold as ice.   
  
"Did I miss anything?"  
  
"Just pointless searches that have turned up nothing. So pretty boy, we're are going back into the Matrix."  
  
"Excuse me! I am not a pretty boy." He knew it was beyond stupid going in the Matrix, but he had to, he just had to, he tried to sit up, and failed miserably. His shoulder began to throb.  
  
"Yep, you are insane, do you realize that bullet when though bone, an artery, and a lot of muscle."  
  
"Why did you lie about going into the Matrix?" He snapped angrily.   
  
"We are not you, you deserved to know, we actually have a lead on were Trinity might be."  
"Listen I can go in, as soon as I'm hooked up, I'll be fine."  
  
"Yeah right, you come out with so much as a bruise and you're in trouble." She scolded, "don't worry we won't do anything stupid. I don't feel like dying anytime soon."   
  
"A good motto."  
  
"One that you don't follow very well." He tried to shrug, but ended up almost screaming, he hated feeling weak, and helpless. He was useless and he was ready to plug himself in, probably kill himself in the process, and that would not do anyone any good. But then again who cared? He had never done the smart thing.   
  
  
Trinity stared up into Neo's face, as she clawed back to consciousness. He gave her a weak smile, he had a nasty looking cut above his eye, and his arm looked broken. He touched her cheek tenderly, light enough not to agitate the bruises.  
  
"It's over Trin." He whispered. "He's gone, forever." She felt tears roll down her cheek, it was over, finally. "Let's get these chains off you okay?" He extended his hand and the chains disappeared. She flexed her hands, and wrapped her arms around him.  
  
"It's okay." He whispered, returning her embraced , the best way he could with a broken arm.  
  
"I love you Neo." She whispered in his ear. Then the world around her seemed to warp, and Neo in her arms seemed to shimmer, and in a second he changed, from the One to the Dark One. He smirked at her his face that of a fallen angel, but the only part that hadn't changed, were his eyes, they were still Neo's eyes. A cruel trick, it had to be.   
  
She pulled herself away from him, and ended up falling on her butt. He laughed again, "So now it's clear! Well I'll be damned! You're his girlfriend, that's great just great. And you love him, isn't that so so sweet? Do you want to know what? I killed his first love, a pity to, she was a sweet little piece work. It was an accident of course, that was a pity too. A car accident, wouldn't it be funny if the One had died in a car accident? He almost did you know. Busted up head, almost half his ribs broken, punctured lung and a few broken bones. It sucks so much that he didn't die, why couldn't he just have died?"  
  
"You're not only evil, you're insane!" She spat then punctuated it further  
  
"Yeah probably, but I'll tell you a little story. When his little girlfriend died, he went nuts. Therapy and support groups he got sent to. None of them worked, so one day he confronts me, and bashes me over the head with a baseball bat! Still got the scar on my head. Everyone was so surprised that innocent little Tom could muster up that. He said that I killed his girlfriend but who were they going to believe, a psycho with a bat or the captain of the football team? So Tom is a psycho who leaves town the night after graduation, and I stay and be the town hero who lead the school to multiple sport championships. I really loved high school. But now Tommy is back," The Dark One spun around and slammed his fist though a wall, "But now Tommy's back, but this time he's got a automatic machine gun."  
  
Trinity smirked at him, "You're scared."  
  
"I'm not scared. You should be, remember what happen to Tom's girlfriend, that's you're future sweetheart." He then yelled out some swear words that made even Trinity flinch.   
  
Trinity stared at him for a moment then in a single stride reached him and slapped him across the face. And spat in his face.  
  
"I must say Neo chose well I must say." Then he slapped her across her face, not as hard as he could have, but hard none the less.  
  
"You see I need you alive, for the moment, maybe even longer." He glared at her, Neo eyes looking so wrong on his face. "But I'll let him deal the hardest blow." He smiled at her, hard cold, a snake's smile.  
  
  
"Neo this is insane!" Gizmo yelled at him, "Go into the Matrix, and when you come out you'll be very dead."  
  
"Honestly! You need to be in perfect shape to face that monster, and you are far from it."  
  
"Listen I know all this! In the Matrix I'll be fine, but I can't stand thinking about Trinity with that scum bucket."  
  
"None of us can, but that is no reason to throw your life away." Morpheus said.  
  
"I am so sick and tired of hearing that! Listen, he could be getting information out of her, that could destroy all of us. How bout that? I was nice and cold and calculating, making me what is needed in the One. Well guess what? I'm lousy at this job, and I'm going to go save Trinity. Whether you like it or not. Tank get everything ready." He could feel his heart beating in his ear, and in the throbbing in his shoulder. They weren't going to stop him, but they still didn't understand.   
  
Tank nodded sadly and moved to the computers, but Teeky stepped between him and one of the chairs, "This is selfish Neo, and you know it. You're going to risk the fate of the Resistance, for one person. Great just great, you're going to screw us all, so you can be Romeo? You duty is to humankind, you can't ignore that."  
  
"You're going to let Trinity die like Zekk?" He snapped, then immediately regret washed through him, Zekk's death was still fresh in her mind. Her face hardened and her eyes shrunk to slits.   
  
"Fine! Die, like we care. But I hope that as you die, you remember everything I've said." Teeky snapped then slapped him across his face practically knocking him to the ground.  
  
"TEEKY!" Morpheus commanded. She turned to him coolly, "I did what was best and I'll do it again." In a second she spun around and jabbed Neo in his stomach. Pain exploded and he crumpled to the ground.   
  
Teeky leaned over him and smiled, " Guess we aren't so tough now, are we?" Neo wanted to answer he really did, but he just couldn't she had knocked the wind out of him. "Five days Neo you stay out do we have a deal."  
  
"Not a chance in hell!" He yelled finding his voice and pushing her off him, "Five days and Trinity is dead! I'd do the same for any of you."  
  
"Well I don't know about Teeky right now." Gizmo added.  
  
"So I'm going in." He continued ignoring Gizmo. He walked over to the chair, " And nobody comes in, this is between me and him." He saw Byte flinch, he didn't mean it like that.   
  
"Okay get ready." Tank cautioned. Then he awoke in the construct. The cell phone rang, "Since I'm pretty sure you're all out of miracles, how bout a helluva lot of guns?" Neo smiled, at least Tank could still crack a joke, anything normal seemed great right now. As normal as things can get when he was getting downloaded into a computer program.  
  
Trinity saw the monster stiffen, and that meant only one thing: Neo was in the Matrix. How could he be so stupid, though it was a slight relief to know for sure that he was alive. He had to be weak, had to be after getting shot, and he was doing it for her.  
  
"That asshole." She said quietly. The Dark One didn't hear her, or if he did he was ignoring her. Just a second after she said that the wall imploded and there stood Neo.   
  
"So you survived." Then he turned toward her, but there was a slight problem for him, her chains were gone courtesy of Neo, she spun around and kicked the chair at him, it hit him square in the face with a satisfying thud. Then Neo was there right behind him, the Dark One dazed spun around just in time to get a kick in the stomach.  
  
"Trinity run!" Neo commanded, just as an attack was launched against him. She slid behind outside the door to get a gun or something, like she would play damsel in distress.  
  
"Oh crap."   
  
  
Neo managed to avoid Patrick's blow, still full of relief Trinity was fine, besides some cuts and bruises. Just then an agent appeared in the doorway, holding Trinity, "Thing is getting very old you know." She was telling him. Even though he had a gun pointed at her head. In a second the agent exploded in a bright green light. And Trinity had grabbed his gun, as he exploded.   
  
Unfortunately, that second had given Patrick the time he needed, he came up behind him and slammed two hands at the base of his neck , knocking him to the ground, he spun around to see him pointing a gun at him.  
  
BAM! BAM! BAM! Three shots were fired but Neo felt nothing, no hot lead, or pain. Then he looked at Patrick who stood there looking shocked, with three bleeding hole in his chest. Trinity. Neo spun his leg around and knocked his legs out from underneath him. He jump up and brought out his hand gun which promptly disappeared and a moment later Patrick's had pulled his on him, but that too disappeared. Then it became full out war.  
  
  
Trinity watched the two men fight, she would have tried another shot, but they were moving to fast, faster then any agent. So if she took a shot she risked Neo as well. Then Neo took a few step back from the fight, she could see a bloody lip, a black eye and several other minor injuries. Then in the blind of an eye, there wasn't one Neo, but four. She rubbed her eyes but there were four. And the Dark One looked just as suprised as she did. Then he launched himself at the one closest to him, and went clean though it. That Neo smiled and the other three leapt in, at the past they were moving it was impossible to see which one was actually hitting him. He rolled away in obvious pain, then three of the Neos disappeared, leaving a very exhausted looking Neo behind.  
  
Neo drooped the three illusions, they them self drained his energy, but when Patrick had tried ripping them apart, it had taken to much energy. He lunged at Patrick with all his strength that he had left, Pat met him in the middle and their combined momentum sent them flying though the wall into thin air. Luckily though there was a rooftop nearby that they landed on with a hard thud.   
  
Neo moved back in a daze, as did Patrick. "I guess there isn't any hope of you saying, hey this is stupid let's all be friends?" Neo slurred out.  
  
"Yeah, yeah All this father come to light stuff ain't gonna work. Can we get back to beating the crap out of each other?"  
  
"Sounds good." And they were back to were they were. Neo kicked him hard in the chest. They fought, but all they ended up doing was hurting each other equally. They stared at each other for a second. It was all so pointless, neither was going to win they, in the end they would both die if nothing happened to change things.   
  
Neo leaned down and ripped a tile of the ground, the tile morphed into a handgun in his grip. Patrick seeing what he had done, and had copied it. They stood for a moment staring at each other weapons drawn. Neo could feel his palms beginning to sweat   
  
"We end this here, we end this now." Neo yelled.  
  
"Hell yeah!" Patrick agreed with a grin. One, two, three a silent countdown began, ten, and go. They raced at each other, gun flaring, each dodging each other's shots in they way Neo had when he started dodging bullets. Then they were two feet away from each other. In slow motion it seemed Neo kicked his leg out and kicked Patrick's arm throwing his shot of by inches, hot lead burned in his arm.   
  
Patrick's shot missed, Neo's didn't.   
  
Neo was shaking with pain, he could feel the injuries from his body invading his RSI. Now yet he pleaded. He stood over Patrick, the life draining from his brother's face. Relief flooded him, with a trace of guilt, if he didn't feel any he would be no better than Patrick.  
  
"You-you won Tom. Su-suprising I-I-I guess." He coughed up some blood, "Y-you can't w-win though. H-hope ya d-do though. I-it's b-better t-to loose to t-the cha-champ." And silently Patrick died, without fan fair he would have wanted.   
  
Neo stood over him for a second, then crumpled, gasping for breath, this was going to be the end, after all that. But at least he had saved the world first.   
  
  
"NEO!!" Trinity yelled jumping the distance between the two buildings. She cradled him for a second, "Oh no you are NOT dying on me now! So C'mon!" She said dragging him up onto his feet, and searched his trench coat for his cell phone.  
  
"Operator."  
  
"Tank I need an exit now!"   
  
"Got ya."  
  
He told her an exit that was close, she only hoped she had time, that Neo had enough time left.  
  
  
  
Neo woke in his cabin with a weight on his chest, luckily away from the two bullet wounds he had on his chest.   
  
"Trin?"  
  
"You're awake."  
  
"And glad to be so." Even though even square inch of his body hurt."Trinity I have to tell you.." He started, no more secrets, not from her.  
  
"No Neo, I need to tell you something first," She stopped him. "I have to tell you this before you tell me anything , it can't wait any longer. Neo you wanted to know how I knew Tech, and what I did before. I- have to tell you. You see when I first got unplugged I was angry at myself, at the world, everything I guess. Then Tech comes along, offers me a position, were I can vent my rage as you might say. Morpheus warned me about him, told me that he was a radical that he believed the machines should lose, no matter the death toll. But I joined him anyway, I only cared about myself, that I do some damage. Well Tech had learned of a prophecy that told of the Dark One, he had learned that Morpheus would find, you, the One. And Tech he was a big believer in Fate, he believed that since the Oracle had told Morpheus that he would find the One, there was nothing that could be done to change that. So he found this description in the prophecy, which none of us could figure it out, mind you we tried. So we found the people on the list, usually the were horrible people. I could never destroy them myself, but I helped which I guess makes me just as guilty as the others. But Neo, your name was on the list, we were two away when the program got called. Tech got his own ship, and Morpheus was good enough to take me back, became a father to me. But Neo we were so close, and it you could have so easily..."  
  
"Trinity?" Neo asked moving her eyes to meet his, "but it didn't happen." His mind was swimming with all the new information, but it didn't change much, "I still love you Trinity."  
  
"You do?" She said looking for an instant very innocent.   
  
"Like an assassination could change that."   
  
"Okay so what's this big secret of yours?"  
  
"Kinda small compared to yours but Patrick is, was my brother."  
  
"I though so." She said, "He had the same eyes as you, except yours are prettier."  
  
Neo smiled and leaned over, and the kissed, like it was their first and last.   
  
  
Prologue:  
  
Gizmo watched as Byte sat hunched over a computer her fingers moving faster than a non hacker's should. He walked over and began massaging her shoulders. She rolled her neck up and smiled at him.  
  
"What are you working on that is so important?"  
  
"What happens when we dream Gizmo?" She asked quietly.  
  
"Huh?"   
  
"I think I've found the Dream World." She whispered peering at the screen. Gizmo cocked his head and looked at the screen. " Byte do I want to know?"  
  
"Everyone will find out soon enough."   
  
  
  
Definitely Not the End.....  
  
  
So it's the end of the Dark One series, Review it please. But wait this isn't the end what for the sequel- The Dream World, hope fully coming soon. 'Til Hang loose and thanks for readin!  
  
  
  
  



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